1 percent raise for feds coming next month

Dec. 24, 2013 - 06:00AM
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Most federal employees are now officially assured of their first across-the-board pay raise in four years following an executive order by President Obama to implement the 1 percent increase next month. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)

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Most federal employees are now officially assured of their first across-the-board pay raise in four years following an executive order by President Obama to implement the 1 percent increase next month.

Obama had proposed the increase as part of his fiscal 2014 budget request; after Congress took no action, the White House in August signaled its intention to use an executive order instead.

The raise was all but guaranteed after lawmakers took no action to block it in the October agreement ending the 16-day partial government shutdown; in Monday’s order, Obama implemented it for most of the civilian workforce, along with uniformed members of the military. The increase does not apply to some 200,000 blue-collar civilian workers paid under the Wage Grade schedule, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, a union which is pursuing legislation to extend it to them as well.

The 1 percent increase will be the across-the-board boost for federal civilians since 2010; during the freeze, however, many federal employees have continued to receive pay boosts through step increases and performance bonuses. In a Monday statement, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called the across-the-board hike “a modest but important step” that recognizes the need for a cost-of-living adjustment for federal workers and members of the military.